I have held Premium Bonds almost my entire life. It’s thanks to my dad as he started buying some in my name very soon after I was born.
The physical bonds are long gone. I’ve no idea what happened to them, but I do recall seeing these little bits of paper with the odd £10, £20, or even sometimes £100 bonds he purchased for me at random times while I was younger.
I think there were some regular payments made too. It all adds up.
I’m sure I remember seeing £1 and £5 paper bonds as well, but I think they were part of his own holdings.
Somehow all those paper bonds my dad bought for me transferred over to my online account. It’s quite fascinating having a look through my bond record and knowing those bond numbers could still win me a prize today.
A single lottery ticket purchased for Saturday’s draw wouldn’t keep giving me a chance of winning every week for ever more.
But every month ERNIE could be ready to throw out one of my bonds from the late eighties.
And every month I hope he selects me as one of the two lucky winners to walk away with £1m. One can but dream.
Of course, ERNIE isn’t a real person. Although it would be quite something if he was responsible for having generated the numbers for 621 million tax-free prizes worth approximately £25.7bn since June 1957.
That’s according to the National Savings & Investments (NS&I) website and not a fact I just happen to know and reel off whenever I get the urge.
ERNIE is NS&I’s Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment – the power which sits behind Premium Bonds. It’s now in its fifth iteration and the technology sounds pretty impressive to me.
I rather like the backstory about the original ERNIE having been invented by a Bletchley Park code breaker too.
I’m going to jinx it now but so far, every month this year I’ve received a nice email from NS&I with the subject line: “Katey, you’ve just won!”
Often, I’ve known before the email lands because I tend to check the prize checker app on the day the results come out. Yes, I am sad like that! The emails never show you the amount you’ve won. The app does.
I’ve had individual prizes of £25, £50 and even £100 recently. One month I won two prizes. Fancy! Another ERNIE was feeling very generous and gave me four. I bet you’re jealous now. Don’t worry I promise he wasn’t feeling generous enough to give me the million.
I’m not speaking from experience, but I gather should I ever be fortunate enough to win the top prize, I would receive a knock on my door.
NS&I’s Agents Million have the “important task” of delivering the winning news in person. I better hope I’m in that day. I wonder what the prize checker app would say? Would it drop a little hint. I bet it’s sworn to secrecy.
The first Premium Bonds millionaire received the exciting news in 1994 and more than 500 new millionaires have been paid a visit since then. Another NS&I fact for you.
I may not know anyone who’s won the £1m jackpot but some of Money Marketing’s readers may well do.
When an Agent Million reveals the good news, they also give the lucky winner information about how to find good quality financial advice. Hear, hear!
NS&I can’t give winners financial advice, but it is good to know it strongly encourages its customers to speak to those qualified to do so.
It points them to online search databases for professional bodies such as the Personal Finance Society and the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment. The aim is to allow winners to find the most appropriate chartered or certified financial planner to meet their needs.
This has been happening since 1 April 2022 and means that more than 8,000 advisers now have the chance to advise jackpot winners. Previously financial advisers came through one firm, Matrix Capital.
NS&I has a dedicated website for financial advisers and a page has been added providing tips on how advisers can support Premium Bonds jackpot winners. Not that you need me to tell you.
I know there’s lots of questions asked as to whether Premium Bonds are worth it. A quick search online comes back with several articles and guides outlining the pros and cons.
Premium Bonds are NS&I’s most popular savings product. They give holders the chance to win tax-free cash prizes from monthly prize draws instead of earning interest on savings.
They also give customers the option to cash in the bonds should they need or want to.
From August, the prize fund rate will increase to 4% from 3.7%, having not long increased from 3.3%. The rate determines how many prizes are handed out each month.
This will improve odds from 24,000 to one to 22,000 to one – their best level in 15 years.
For many years I also held an investment account with NS&I. I’m sure when I was a child it was known for having a decent interest rate and was better than elsewhere.
On the very rare occasions back then when I would win a prize on the Premium Bonds, they would be sent to me as a cheque, and I would pay it into the investment account.
My dad’s prizes were always auto reinvested for more bonds. He used to love getting the letter in the post telling him about the win along with a list of his bond numbers. He would joke about how he must have above average luck as most months he would win a prize without holding anywhere near the maximum amount.
His friend remarked how she had never won, and he couldn’t resist telling her whenever another £25 win came through just to add salt to the wound.
I miss him telling me about his wins! I’ve never cashed in any of the original bonds my dad bought me, and I don’t plan to do so anytime soon.
Instead, a while ago, I decided to close the NS&I investment account and put all that money into Premium Bonds instead. There wasn’t a massive amount in the account anyway and the interest rate was incredibly low, so I thought I’d rather take my chances.
I know the money could potentially be working harder for me elsewhere but in a strange way it helps me to still feel close to my dad who sadly died in October 2020.
It was something he wanted to set up for me and it feels special. After he died, I had the option to keep his bonds in the prize draws for another year. I did. If any prizes were won, they would not be able to be reinvested and instead were issued as cheques. It took me back.
His bonds numbers won a prize several times that year. I even took on the mantle of messaging my friend who has never won.
“My dad is still doing me proud with Premium Bonds. Three cheques in the post this month. £75 in total,” I said one month.
“These just keep on happening! How is that even possible?” came the reply.
I’ve no idea. Every time I received a cheque it made me happy and sad at the same time. His better than average luck continued, I just wish he could have continued experiencing it for longer.
When the 12 months were up, I felt sad at the thought his bonds would no longer be entered into the draws. I know it’s silly really.
So, I decided to put the money into my own bonds when the final cheque came through. I thought the luck would end there but thanks for passing it on to me, Dad.
My prizes are also set up to auto reinvest and therefore increase my chances in the next eligible draw.
And now, I have a child of my own one of the first admin things I did after he was born was purchase Premium Bonds for him.
When I was clearing out my dad’s flat, I decided to keep any money I obtained from selling random items from it in a separate account. I promised myself that if I had a child, I would use it to buy them Premium Bonds so in a roundabout way they were coming from my dad. And that’s exactly what I did.
The luck continues. My son’s won two prizes already. And he’s not long turned one.
Don’t worry, we both have some other savings and investment vehicles too. But the buzz of the Premium Bonds is something else.
Fingers crossed one of you lucky advisers will be hearing from me when I win big. Or if my son does as it’ll be a while before he can access the money himself.
